Stereotactic Radiosurgery

Mount Sinai’s Department of Neurosurgery strives to provide patients with advanced treatment options for a variety of malignant primary and secondary brain tumors, meningiomas, trigeminal neuralgia, and other neurological conditions.

In conjunction with a radiation oncologist, our team of neurosurgeons might recommend a nonsurgical treatment, such as stereotactic radiosurgery, if noninvasive therapies are better for the patient.

Stereotactic radiosurgery uses highly-sophisticated beams of technology to precisely target brain tumors and other neurological abnormalities. With this advanced technology, our neurosurgeons are able to access deep in the brain without the risk of affecting critical brain structures.

Conditions Treated with Stereotactic Radiosurgery

Stereotactic radiosurgery is recommended for secondary brain tumors, or those that have metastasized from areas such as the lungs, prostate and the breast. The procedure is also recommended if there are multiple metastases deep in the brain that need to be treated.

Outside of the Comprehensive Brain Tumor Program at Mount Sinai, stereotactic radiosurgery is used by our neurosurgeons to treat several conditions and brain lesions, including:

How Does Stereotactic Radiosurgery Work?

The neurosurgeons at the Mount Sinai utilize the sophisticated Novalis radiosurgery system for stereotactic procedures. This image-guided technology provides our physicians with specific information on the shape, size, and location of the tumors/abnormalities, allowing for precise radiation.

Unlike radiotherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery is done usually once in an outpatient setting. Similar to having an MRI scan performed, the patient will lie still on a table. The system rotates around the patient, providing radiation beams to a single mass, or multiple places at once, while avoiding healthy, surrounding tissue.

The radiation beams adapt to breathing and small movements that will naturally occur during the procedure.

Our neurosurgeons will monitor you during the short procedure, which can typically take less than an hour.

Compared to traditional surgery, there is no risk of bleeding or infection. Patients can return home following the procedure without the discomfort of stitches or sedation.

If the tumor continues to grow following the procedure, our neurosurgeons may reevaluate the patient for surgery or may pursue conventional radiation, or whole body radiation, over several sessions.